JACK TORTURES NIELSEN COMPETITION

24's two-hour Season 6 premiere averaged 15.7 million viewers Sunday night, up against stiff competition from CBS' overrun of the AFC Divisional Playoff between the Patriots and Chargers, which was watched by 35 million viewers, or as I like to call them, traitors to Jack Bauer and the United States government.

The rating was slightly down from the 16.3 million viewers that tuned in for last year's Season 5 debut - but to be fair, that premiere benefited from Fox's NFC Divisional Playoff lead-in ... and Jack was, after all, rising from the dead.

24 actually built its audience in Sunday night's second hour (7:00 AM - 8:00 AM), up against ABC's Desperate Housewives, which managed just 16.7 million viewers - its lowest score ever for a first-run episode. Looks like Jack Bauer just put another bullet in Mary Alice's head.

Monday night's two-hour premiere event held steady with, presumably, the same 15.7 million viewers tuning back in to see Jack murder Curtis and terrorists nuke Valencia. In fact, the rating improved on last year's Monday night premiere, which scored only 14.9 million viewers for the resolution of the Ontario Airport hostage crisis.

24's spectacular 5.9 18-49 rating came despite an improved showing from NBC's Golden Globes broadcast, which won the night with 20 million viewers watching Warren Beatty give a three-hour acceptance speech.